Summer Update

We've been a bit behind posting the goings-on of the summer.

Here are some pictures of the fun.

Bailey- The newest member of the family. YEP- we got a dog. I know, I can't believe it either....

Monday, September 3rd we picked up our puppy- a Bichone, Shih Tzu, Maltese mix who was born July 1st. The boys wrestling.

Saturday July 28th we went to Children's Day at the Mariner's game. Paul, Paige & Jared rode the train with us down from Everett to Safeco Field to watch the game.

Jared watching the sights from his seat on the train.
Paige & I "watching" the game.
July 20th - Redmond High School Class of 1997 10-year reunion. Reed & I before the party.
The Girls- Me, Erin, Brecken, Kelly, Erin & Melissa.

Reed, Erin & Brecken having a good time.

2nd Annual camping trip to Valley Camp. Paul & Jared hiking in the woods.

Paige & Gavin playing together in the "river".

I'm Free... Free Fallin'

For my birthday Reed suprised me with the chance to go skydiving. After two reschedules, I finally got to jump on Saturday June 30th. Some of the pictures are a bit blurry, as it was hard to track the descent. The scariest part was the brief moment when you look out of the plane to the sky and clouds below- then whoosh you're out. The air passes so quickly during the freefall that it can be hard to breath and the rush from spinning around is thrilling. I got to "steer" the rest of the way down, so we did some turns. My instructor was great and we had a perfect landing. Whoo-hoo! Now, what's next?!.....

Glass Blowing

On Friday Deedee, Brecken and I went to Wildfire Glass Studio in Bothell for a drop-in session. The photo above shows us in the shop and also a few of our final pieces. First we decided on a project and picked out our favorite glass colors. While in the studio we had to wear protective eye wear (notice the chemistry lab glasses in the photos below). Somehow the sunglasses that the artist wore counted as safety gear...

It was amazing to see the flames leaping from the vat of molten glass, it felt a little bit like "fire & brimstone". When turning the rod and melting the glass in the oven, the heat from the fire was so hot it felt like my arm hair was going to start burning- luckily it didn't. Blowing the glass was fun, and it was cool to see the bubble grow into an ornament as you blew into it. We had a great time participating in the glass blowing process, we'll definitely go back and do it again.

California or Bust

Here are some pictures from our trip to California. Friday night we spent the day with Kelly shopping and exploring the Burbank area. We saw her play The Boarding House- in which she gave a great performance. We went out with a few cast members after the show to a local restaurant












Saturday we joined the masses in line outside of Disneyland at 6:30 am (Reed's in the brown hooded sweatshirt). Getting there so early we were able to walk right onto the rides before the crowds had time to get in line after staking their places along the red carpet. We saw way too many adults dressed like pirates!

California Adventure was fun. After a near-death experience on Mullholand Madness, Reed declined to go on any other "wild" rides with me. Note the "barf shield" in the photo.

Pinwheels for Prevention

APRIL is CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. To promote awareness the Children's Protection Program at Children's Hospital planted a "garden of pinwheels". A planting ceremony was held on April 5th in a courtyard on the Children's Hospital campus. Many friends and supporters attended the event and helped make it a huge success. That is Brayden Hiam in the "garden" with me.

Below are links to some of the Children's Protection Program's affiliates. They are great resources for parenting tips, child protection related issues and other ways to advocate for safe and healthy children and families.

Parent Trust
WA Council for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect

"No one can do everything

but everyone can do something to keep kids safe"

Say Cheese

That's the digital camera Christine and I want to get. During the approximately 4.5 years that we have been married, the many trips we have been on, and the numerous other opportunities that we have had together for photos, I think we have taken a total of 4 pictures documenting our lives and I think one of the pictures is of my foot because the camera snapped a picture as it bounced on the ground. Needless to say we need a digital camera. This camera gets good reviews, is relatively inexpensive, and uses 8 mega pixels, whatever that means. So watch out, Christine and I are going to give even the best paparazzi a run for their money.

Walking the Plank

What does Pirates of the Caribbean, Alaska Airlines, and Kelly Lohman have to do with our blog? Well, Christine and I are heading down to California to visit her friend Kelly, and it's been a while since we have been to Disneyland (and never together) so we figured it would be fun to do that. Well, it turns out that the day that we are going to be there they are closing Disneyland early for...the premiere of the Pirates of the Caribbean III, At World's End. Some people are really excited for this and are planning on getting there to have a spot next to the red carpet to perhaps get a drop of Johnny Depp's perspiration, or a wiff of Orlando Bloom's moisturizer. Personally, I could care less about seeing some celebrities, I just want to go on rides, wear some Mickey Mouse ears, and enjoy some sunshine and Christine just wants me to visit Mr. Grim Reaper by forcing me on some roller coasters. Spinning Tea Cups here I come!